The Shortest Trip to Vegas Ever

It was around 8pm this past Friday that Dan dare to question my sense of adventure and spontaneity. He knew that it would only end one way and he was right. We hit the road to Vegas two hours later. We knew that it could only be a short trip, less than twenty-four hours. He had to fly to Texas and I had to work. We knew that we would be mainlining caffeine to keep the sleep deprivation at bay. All of this didn't matter as we simply had to be at the Boulder City Hacienda Hotel at 7am sharp to add our Smart car to a group that was going to attempt to break the Guinness Book of World Record for most Smarts on the Hoover Dam. We knew that if we skipped out, that we would have spent all day Saturday regretting the decision.

We have two Smarts, but with the lack of sleep/long drive/expense, we thought it wiser to leave one at home. Dan's Smart, who we call Bus, short for Brabus, had the honor of making the trek with us. It was a really good thing that we took one car, as neither of us could have done the entire drive. We both had to nap a bit on the road.

We made it to the Hacienda Hotel around five am and saw plenty of people already milling around and cleaning their cars. I am not at all a morning person, so it's always amazing to experience the sunrise

Sunrise at the Hacienda.

That's a lot of Smarts!

We went in the hotel to have breakfast at the cafe and this greeted us in the entrance. The car had already been pulled out to join the rest before we finished. A note- breakfast was good and so, so cheap that we were amazed. My main course (eggs, potatoes, toast and bacon) was under four dollars. You don't see that in Los Angeles or on the strip!

We were sad to have missed the cocktail mixer and other festivities.

We had to sign a waiver and we were given a sticker to place on our window to indicate that our car was cleared to go on the dam bridge.

Nifty Jam on The Dam 2 sticker.

I have to fess up to the fact that we felt a little out-of-place. We missed out on the caravan from Los Angeles and the Friday night cocktail reception at the hotel. We didn't have a Jam on the Dam tee-shirt. Mostly though, our car was completely ordinary. This is saying a lot, when you are used to driving around town and getting stares and people asking questions. We are used to having the most unusual car in town. At the Jam on the Dam, our poor Brabus was completely ordinary. We saw so much creativity and cool modifications, that it has us swirling with ideas for our cars. Here are a few favorites.

Daisy even had a quack for a honk.

The Daisy Duck car had a tail in back and the horn was a quack!

Highly customized both inside and out.

The interior. Swanky.

The guy who owned the flag car was super nice and he let us poke around and see his cool custom interior. He was also helping run the event and great at answering questions and directing us. We met a lot of really nice people at the event, in addition to seeing a lot of familiar faces from our SoCal Smarties group!

My favorite car, such a pretty green.

The green car was my favorite of the bunch. Sure. it's more simple that a lot of the fun modifications, but it just looks so good. The picture does not do the green color justice. So pretty!

Ten years ago, I did the same thing to my Honda.

Anyone who knows me, would know how giddy I got when seeing the Hello Kitty car. I used to have a green Honda Civic, that was even more decorated with HK than this Smart.

Below are a few more shots of fun Smarts.

There were a whole bunch of the soccer ball cars.

lots of smarts all ready to head to the dam.

This is one smiley car.

Ed Hardy car.

The eyelash mod really works with the smarts, lots have them.

Ninja Car!

And one of me, nearly delirious from lack of sleep, with Bus.

One of our Smarts, we named him Bus.

Prior to taking off, Jimmy, the event organizer, gave last-minute instructions.

The organizer of the event giving final instructions at the staging area.

This event was very well-organized and they had police closing roads and making sure that it all ran smoothly.

Here we are all ready to go, the main instruction to closely follow the car in front of you.

Let's go!!![

A helicopter was also ready to go and take our picture on the dam. I can't wait to see how it turned out!

The helicopter with the photographer.

The drive to the dam took about fifteen minutes, including a security stop. It was great to see all of the tourist waving and taking pictures. When we pulled on to the dam, we created two rows and sat in our cars for about twenty minutes while the helicopter was circling.

On the dam.

After the pictures were taken, we moved off the dam and parked at a lookout point for some socializing with other owners.

After the dam, we went to a second meeting area for mingling and pictures.

I saw the best license plate and that's saying a lot, as there are many fantastic custom plates for Smarts.

Best plate

And my favorite car sticker, which has a lot of truth to it!

We zoom past fast cars all of the time. Never underestimate the power of a Smart!

Unfortunately, we couldn't stick around for the lunch. We hit the road for home right away. The intention was to drive all of the way back to Los Angeles, but by the time we started getting close to Primm Valley, we realized that we were in no shape to drive and required a short nap to refuel. Safety first!

We found out that the cheapest rooms were at Whiskey Petes (49.00) and decided that it was worth the price for a bed to nap. I had low, low, low expectations for Whiskey Petes. I mean, look at the place, it's a mash-up of The Frontier and Excalibur!

Frontier +Excalibur = Whiskey Pete's

My expectations were demolished. The rooms were simple, but clean. The staff was super nice and even though we didn't use it, the pool was a huge surprise. I took a picture, because couldn't get over how nice it looks. It even has a waterfall and waterslide.

Snazzy looking pool with a slide.

They have the only Ihop in existence that had zero wait for a table. And as an additional bonus, they have the Bonnie and Clyde Death Car!!!

Death Car!

Bullet Holes in the death car!

So, I probably wouldn't have reason to stay at Whiskey Pete's again. I can't imagine staying in Primm, when Vegas is less that an hour a way. However, it wasn't bad at all and I wouldn't hesitate to stay here again, if the occasion came up.

It was a long, exhausting trip, but worth every bit of it. If any of them are reading this, a huge THANK YOU to the Sin City Smarts and all of the other really great smart owners who came together to make this happen. It's a great community of people and we had a wonderful time. Oh and I believe that the final car count was 120!

Six Flags Hurricane Harbor and Abandoning Fears

On Labor Day weekend ( crazy, I know) Dan and I spent the day at Six Flags Hurricane Harbor. The park is closing for season, but I still wanted to do a write- up to get my thoughts down on our visit. I love water parks. Years ago, I had a season pass to Raging Waters and I always try to visit parks near vacation destinations. This was my first time visiting Hurricane Harbor.

As much as I love theme and water parks, I am not a huge fan of Six Flags. I used to have a huge phobia over roller coasters. Huge. I would avoid them. For many years, I couldn't even do California Screamin' at Disney's California Adventure. I would wait in line, but bail at the last minute.

After my mom passed away in 2008, something snapped in me. My mom died, I was getting a divorce and I had inherited a home that needed major repairs. My life was in an upheaval and I felt like I had lost control. I was already completely outside of my comfort zone, so I decided to attack my fears. I went to Orlando, Florida and the first ride that I went on was The Incredible Hulk coaster at Islands of Adventure. I had sweaty palms and was crushing the hand of my friend who was sitting next to me, but I did it. Once I did that coaster, I felt free and the intensity of the phobia had been lifted. I do sometimes have the nerves come back when I am waiting in line for a new coaster, but once I am on it, I am okay. Actually, I am more than okay, I love it and am usually giggling the entire ride.

Cut to July. Dan loves Six Flags and surprised me with buying us season passes. We thought that the passes included Hurricane Harbor, but they didn't. When we went to process the passes, we found out that they do not sell an option to have a pass with both the theme park and the water park. They need to be purchased separately. We had a premium type of pass that included any Six Flags park. I think this is a fail on their part. We would have gladly paid a high price to have a pass that included both Valencia Parks, but we don't need a pass that includes out of state parks. We were told not to worry about buying a Hurricane Harbor pass, because we were given a coupon booklet that included free waterpark passes.

Since we purchased the passes so late in the season, the coupon booklet was essentially a joke. We headed to Hurricane Harbor the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, expecting any coupon to be blocked out. However, what I found funny, is they just didn't offer any coupon for September. In the booklet we had free waterpark coupons for every month in summer with no blackout dates. The park is open through the last of September, when it would seem that it would be less crowded, yet they did not offer a free pass. I just thought this was weird. Really, I would have rather not had coupons and just have had the option to upgrade and why not September?

We arrived at park opening, which on a busy day is essential. We were able to get a locker and raft, but noticed that within a few hours they were both sold out for the day. I overheard that they ran out of children's life vests, which are free and mandatory for small kids in the wave pool. All of the lounge chairs were taken within the first hour, but we were too busy going on slides to bother with sunbathing.

Here some tips and things that I would do differently next time.

1. I would buy the front of the line pass. The queues were long and we missed a few slides because of wait times. On a very busy day, this would absolutely be worth it. Having a tube rental does cut the wait time on slides that require tubes, as you already have your tube and can cut in front of people waiting for them. Tube rentals are worth it! Plus, it just looks a little sad when people are wading around the lazy river, rather than floating in a tube!

2. Buy watersocks in advance. I don't know why anyone would attempt a day at a waterpark without them. I consider them a waterpark essential, but I saw a majority of people walking around without them. We didn't have any and had to buy them at the park. The price wasn't too outrageous, but they were limited on sizes and styles. I ended up with ones that were a size too big.The next time that I need a new pair, I will make sure to buy them in advance.

3. Bring chocolate. This seems silly, I know. Hurricane Harbor had heavy advertisement for chocolate, including ads for M&M's hanging over the lazy river. The advertising worked and we wanted chocolate, but found out that they don't sell it anywhere in the waterpark. Bummer. We ended up getting the next best thing, a big sundae from the Ben & Jerry's booth. On a related note, there is no seating to be had on a busy day. When the lounge chairs go, people take over the eating area as their personal base camp. If you don't set up camp, you may find it difficult to find a spot to eat later in the day. Luckily, we had pizza for lunch earlier and only ran into this problem with the ice cream.

4. Hurricane Harbor has a cool thing where you can put money into an account and it's drawn when your waterproof wrist band is scanned. This makes it really easy to get snacks and tube rentals during the day. Put in more money than you think you will need, as everything adds up fast. Any remaining money in the account can be returned at the end of the day. Another thing to do first thing in the morning, before it gets crowded. Also, the bands are good all summer, if you plan on returning and want to keep your tab open. I really liked this idea.

5. Take a look at your pictures at the end of the day. We ended up buying a bunch, just because they were so good!

Overall, we had a great time. The park is looking a little shabby and hopefully they will make some major repairs during the winter season. If I had my camera, I would have taken pictures of the rusty stairwells and patched up areas. This aside, I never felt unsafe and the staff was really nice and seemed attentive. I hope that we managed to go back next summer!

Getting Out of L.A. with Dan's Parents - Arrowhead Queen

We followed up our epic Vegas weekend with another mini vacation a few days later. We kicked off the second weekend trip by heading to Lake Arrowhead. Dan and I had spent his birthday weekend in Arrowhead back in July and loved it so much, that we knew his parents had to experience it. I always find it amazing that in a short drive, you can be in a completely different world, surrounded by pine trees, sparkling blue water and clean air. It is such a beautiful place. After fueling up at Waffle Works, we bought tickets for a tour of the lake aboard the Arrowhead Queen. Here are the tickets, sixteen a piece for adults. When we came in July, most of the tours were sold out and this boat was full, clearly a popular Lake Arrowhead attraction.

Arrowhead Queen tickets.

Here are a few pictures from the dock.

The gate to the boat dock.

The majestic Arrowhead Queen.

It looks small in the picture, but it holds about sixty people. We were the first to board and decided to sit at the very back, which has a bench seat on a raised platform. This seemed like the ideal spot, but once we were on out on the lake, we realized that we had the worst seats as far as viewing out the side windows. We had a great view of what was behind the boat, but a limited view of everything else. Don't sit in the back. We had to bend down to get good pictures out of the side windows.

The view from the back window.

Here is what we saw once we got going.

another view out the back.

Here is the interior view from our seats.

A full boat.

We had a full boat, mostly with a senior group on a day trip. We had two ladies who boarded carrying a large crock-pot, which was just plain weird.

Our captain and tour guide looked like a portly Steve Martin and unfortunately, his voice was the love-child of Huell Howser and Gilbert Gottfried.

Our guide.

With the exception of his unusual and grating voice, he was a decent tour guide. He gave us the History of the lake, listed many statistics and pointed out celebrity homes. It was a very informative fifty minute ride. I enjoyed getting an close-up view of many gorgeous homes.

Lake front property.

I was also excited to see (from a distance) UCLA'S Bruin Woods. I spent three great weekends here during high school for a writing workshop. I have many wonderful memories at the place. A lot of mortifying, angst-ridden poetry was written here.

Bruin Woods.

We found this guy waiting for us at the dock. This duck clearly hit the jackpot.

coffee?

If you've read my other posts, you know how much I love ducks. I can't just post one cute duck picture. I liked the bag of duck food and took a picture of it.

Love it!

And promptly dumped all of the contents in the lake. It was my second bag. I could probably spend an entire day feeding the ducks and never get bored.

DUCKS!!!

My final picture comes from the store where we bought the boat tickets. It doesn't have to do with anything else in the post, I just liked it.

Rats!